My Animas Ping pump is out of warranty, requiring me to decide if I will get a new Animas pump or switch to a new company. Some background: my pump is a year out of warranty, but it’s only a year old. I got this pump around this time last year after a pump failure that occurred shortly before my warranty expired. I wasn’t planning to upgrade my pump just yet, but my pump failed again today. Since I have had a total of three pump failures in five years (and a frustrating pump supplies situation), I’m not sure I want to stick with Animas. Complicating things further, I’m 8 months pregnant. Internet searches will bring up comparisons of features, but I’m most interested in durability (and also price–I’m with Blue Cross). Any recommendations?
I really like Medtronic but truthfully most pumps are about the same with small features of one being different than the other., Not better really just different. I examined the pump purchase issue earlier this year and come down to re-upping with Medtronic. Here are my thoughts:
and
Now having written all of that it is important to note that really all pumps are pretty equal. If you want to try out the Medtronic I think they are doing trials. I know the Pod pump does trials so it is a good choice to try and I believe tandem does them as well.
you really cannot go wrong here and no pump is perfect so give yourself a break, experiment and enjoy the process a little. I know being 8 months pregnant puts added pressure on the situation, so if you can get an immediate trial go ahead and do that, then sort out the final decision later.
Go tubeless.
It is hard to answer your question without further knowledge of what you deem to be important in a pump. What are you looking for in a pump? Reliability? Ability to have minute adjustement in basal rates No tubing etc?
I’m looking for reliability, meaning a pump that won’t die every one to two years. I’ve gone through three Animas pumps in 5 years. Perhaps this is par for the course, but I was under the impression that pump warranties lasted for four years because that’s how long the pump was supposed to last.
In France, we do not own the pumps, we have them on loans (free of charge) and when there is a problem they get replaced. I am an avid runner and climber, and my animas rarely last more than a year and a half, either the plastic part up front comes undone because of the sweat, or the light becomes so dim that I cannot read it. But that being said it has never died suddenly on me. The most solid pump I have ever tried was the Disetronic which became Roche, unfortunately its basals adjustment are too high for my needs. I like the animas because you can swim with them (as opposed to the medtronic). I also like the fast bolus, never quite understood why some pumps have only a slow bolus. The person who is responsible for letting me the pump says that most of the pumps have the same reliability so it is a matter of tastes for little things.